Where were you in '62?
by princessofthescoundrels
Summary: Two fanboys and a fangirl develop a time machine in order to go to '62. They are stuck and need the help of a certain Modesto California student... George Lucas, maker of Star Wars and father of all cinema. Where were YOU in '62? StarWars BacktotheFuture
1. The Bucket of Bolts

**Okay people! After a recent Back to the Future marathon… THIS popped in my head! I'm not exactly sure if it had been done before in Star Wars fanfiction… but I'll try my best. It is going to be very similar to the movie but I'll try my hardest to add as many original things as I can. I'm not even sure if it IS fanfiction… just enjoy!**

_Summary: When teenage fanboy Griffin and fangirl Sarah put their lives into a nerdy cousin of Sarah's hands, all for the glory of time travel, they get sucked into the world of the 1960's. They need the help of a young boy… a senior in 1962 living in Modesto California… the one that will change millions of people's lives and the history of cinema itself… George Lucas. How will these super Lucas fans get back home without drastically changing the life of George? Where were YOU in '62?_

Notes: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas had been friends since 1966, George Lucas had his life-altering accident June 12th 1962… that's all I think you need to know for this chapter.

_Somewhere in the galaxy this could all be happening right now…_

**Modesto, California: Thursday, June 10****th**** 2010 (Present)**

The bell rung in Downey High School signaling the end of all classes. Sarah Johnson stood at her locker and sighed. It had been an interesting day. All her teachers had been choosing her for all the questions she didn't know, they loaded her up on homework, and to top it all off she was going through her period. At least she had one more day to look forward to until the weekend.

She took another glance at her locker. It reflected her interests to a great extent. There were pictures upon pictures of Star Wars characters, Star Wars vehicles, Star Wars merchandise, and a bit of Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and Muppets thrown in there for a good measure. At the bottom, as a bit of an afterthought, where her books and school supplies. The satchel she wore was already stuffed with books of homework, pens and her lucky sketch pad but she added a science textbook to the mix.

She was pretty, but not in any extraordinary way. At least she thought so. She looked a bit like Natalie Portman only with her chestnut hair down to the middle of her back. She liked to wear one thing every day that reminded her of her favorite movies, sometimes a belt, sometimes an earring. Today it was an Empire Strikes Back t-shirt.

A voice dominating over the crowded halls resurfaced her back to reality. She smirked as she watched her tall friend Griffin Nickerson part through the mob. He grinned her way briefly, but it ended soon after as he dodged a well aimed swipe at his shoulder by a fellow football star. He stopped at near her locker and he leaned casually against the neighboring one.

"What's up?" he asked. Griffin was muscular in addition to being tall. His brown hair fell annoyingly in his eyes all the time, despite it being shorter in the back. His eyes were hazel and they seemed to penetrate anyone who locked theirs to his. He was on the football team, but he was no jock. Under his team sweatshirt with the stitched logo of the school was a faded t-shirt with E.T. on it. People often wondered why he hung out with such a plain and nerdy girl but if they really could see past both of their exteriors they would find out that there was more to them that first comprehended.

"The sixties had it good," Sarah replied glumly. She slammed her locker closed and locked it. Griffin grimaced in reaction at her sudden movement and at the pure sadness in her voice.

"Yeah they had it great," Griffin rolled his eyes. "The sex, beer, and cigarettes sounded wonderful."

"No it's not that," Sarah disagreed. "The hair, pretty dresses, the music, the movies, the innocence, the cars! It's just so different than what we have now. Sometimes I wish I could visit there just once."

"Don't say that!" Griffin warned jokingly. He waved a finger in her direction with a smile on his face. "You never know what might happen!"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "They haven't invented a time machine yet! I think I'm safe for now."

Griffin put his hand down and moved to lean on his back instead scanning the halls. "I don't know… Mark seems to be pretty set on making one."

Sarah moved her eyes to the boy packing his bag across the hall from her. "Oh my cousin's all talk. Mark tried to make a spaceship a couple of years ago and it never made it. He forgot to put an engine in or something. Also it was made out of plastic."

"You said that he did that when he was five!"

"Yeah well, he never gave up that crazy dream," Sarah replied grumpily.

"And being a professional movie maker isn't crazy?" Griffin pointed out. Sarah shot him a dirty look.

"Well it's more likely than ever making a time machine! Listen to yourself!"

"Come on! You don't mean that," Griffin said soothingly. "You're just tired and in need of a nap. Finish putting stuff away in your man purse, let's pick up Mark and get out of here."

"I still don't know why he chooses to live in that crummy broken down old house that no one lives in when he could be living with my family!" Sarah exclaimed in exasperation while pulling on a coat.

"Ever since your Aunt and Uncle died three years ago he's been taking it really hard," Griffin pointed out. "He was only fourteen."

"Yeah I know! But he is our responsibility and one day the kid police are going to catch him or whatever and my parents will be sent to prison with negligence or something!"

"Don't talk of stuff you don't know," Griffin warned. "Your parents are good people but sometimes they do need that extra kick in the butt. Maybe if you would talk to them they would insist that Mark stay with them."

"That's the problem! I don't know if I want Mark staying with us!" Sarah's voice dropped to a confused whisper as they approached Mark's locker.

"But didn't you just say…"

"Hey guys!" Mark exclaimed closing his locker too and striding up to meet them. Mark was a nice looking boy too, but it would have been much more noticeable without the giant baggy sweatshirt that he always wore, his badly cut blonde hair, glasses much too big for his forehead and jeans that were a poor attempt to be cool. His eyes were the most beautiful blue.

"Hey Mark," his friends said tightly. Mark looked at them, innocently smiling while his companions just shifted their feet.

"You ready to go Mark?" Griffin asked.

"Yeah!" Mark exclaimed, sounding like a child and Sarah inwardly grimaced.

"Let's go then." They walked out of the school and took a turn into the parking lot. "Since I knew Mark would be coming with us I had to take Mark's van," explained Griffin to Sarah. She shrugged and Mark smiled some more. The van was a great car… for a teenager. The scratches and dents that covered it seemed almost strategically placed and it looked very much like Hutch's van from the movie Fanboys. The inside was a Star Wars nerd's heaven. Posters and pictures and books and Christmas Yoda lights lined every inch of the inside.

"Chewie!" Sarah called out and jogged to the passenger's seat. She could drive, and she liked it, but the problem was that she never trusted herself enough to go on any major highways in the fear of hurting either herself or someone else. So Griffin always drove them. Mark chose a seat in the back and Griffin climbed into the driver's seat.

"Everybody all set?" he asked and revved the engine. Murmured 'yeah's' made him smile and he gassed it and began to drive.

The highways weren't as barren as they used to be. Just like everything it had become somewhat congested as more people started moving in. The ride from the school wasn't very long, but it seemed to take longer because the only cassettes that Mark could find were old Disney Princess ones. Of course no one knew how those got there.

Griffin put the car in park as they reached the front of Mark's house. Or disaster area. Or junk heap. Whatever. Mark, after tragically losing his parents in a plane crash in 2007, he decided to avoid almost all human contact, continuing to use Sarah's parents for financial reasons but living in an abandoned church. It was near both Sarah's and Griffin's houses so if he needed them all he had to do was walk across the street.

"Sarah and I will walk from here," Griffin stated, getting out of the van. Sarah followed suit and unbuckled.

"Griffin's joining my family for dinner tonight," Sarah said to Mark. "You're welcomed to join us."

"No it's okay," Mark shrugged, placing his hands into his pants pockets. "I have things I need to do tonight. But you're welcomed to drop by my place later. I have something cool I want to show you. And bring your cell phones, iPods, iPads, Laptops, digital cameras, video cameras… I really don't care. Just bring something. It's going to be big."

"Okay…" Griffin said slowly. "When should we get there?"

"I should be done with it by six thirty. You should come down then. Oh, can I have my keys back?"

"Sure…" said Griffin and did what he asked. "What's up kid?"

"You'll see. Now, get you two!" Mark gestured to Sarah's nicer looking home across from his. They gave him a weird look and began to slowly walk in a daze to her home. "Go!"

Sarah was the first to walk in the door. "Honey! It's so great that you're home!" Sarah's mom Nancy greeted her daughter. Griffin walked in and she smiled broader. "Oh it's Griffin! Your dad will be so happy that he's eating with us!"

"I'm sure," Sarah said under her breath and embraced her mother, who looked a lot like her.

"Nice to see you again Mrs. Johnson," said Griffin politely.

"Please you know it's Nancy!" She gave him a hug too and over her shoulder Griffin gave Sarah a comical 'Please get your mother off of me now' look. Sarah dug her fingers into her mom's ribs and tickled her. She screeched and let go. "Now, you kids go and have fun. I want the door to be open in your room Sarah, I want you to finish your homework before I even hear a word that's un-homework oriented, and I want you down by five thirty for an early dinner. Is that all right with you dear?"

"Perfectly Mrs. … erm… Nancy." Mrs. Johnson smiled brilliantly and the two teenagers made their way up the stairs.

Sarah's room was a pig sty and often confused with her little 15 year old brother Austin's room, the reason being that it looked very much like her locker, only with a bed, closet, desk and drawers. She had attached many strings of lights across her walls, which were painted a very dark blue, to give the room a sort of space-y feel. She never needed normal lamps, but she did have some lava lamps.

"I'll never get tired of your room," Griffin announced and she smiled. They pulled up two beanbag chairs and a book to write on and started on their homework. Sarah put some John Williams music in the background to add to the feel. Every once and a while they would peer out the window to see if there was anything going on over at Mark's place. Griffin could have sworn he saw an eerie blue light crackle across a broken stain glass window.

"Did you see that?" he asked.

"What?" replied Sarah distractingly.

"Look!" he walked over near her window and pointed to the relative place where he saw the flash.

"I can't see anything," Sarah said, worried about Griffin.

"It was there!" Griffin exclaimed. He realized it was no use and sobered. "What do you think we're getting ourselves into?" he looked at her and she furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "But he's opening up, which is good. I'm just so worried he'll do something rash. He's been alone too long."

"As long as we keep being nice to him I guess…" he trailed off. "I just hope whatever he's going to show us will be safe."

"Knowing Mark… we'll never know." They shared a glance, sighed and returned to their work. By the time it was five thirty they were finished and they made their way down to the kitchen.

Austin and Sarah's father Paul were already seated at the table. Austin smirked to Sarah and she glared. Mr. Johnson looked up from his newspaper long enough to see that Griffin was there and the paper went right back up again.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Johnson," Griffin tried.

Grunt.

Sarah shrugged and sat across from Austin and Griffin sat next to her. After handing out meals of chicken breast to all of the people at the table, Mrs. Johnson took her place at the foot of the table, across from her husband.

"Where's that boy that we pay for?" Mr. Johnson grumbled, his voice slightly muffled by the barrier of the paper.

"Oh Mark couldn't come tonight, he said he had some things to do," Sarah explained quietly.

"Good for him! He's going to be a nice self- reliant boy, unlike you two!" Mr. Johnson rumbled and Austin and Sarah looked at their food. Griffin opened his mouth like he was going to speak and then thought the better of it and shut it.

Sarah and Griffin played around with their food, and started eating in small bites. When they sneaked another glance at her father, they re- thought their strategy and began to eat faster. When they were satisfied, Sarah tentatively asked, "May we please be excused?"

"By all means! Don't talk to your dad who you don't see all day! The lack of communication this generation is ridiculous!" Sarah was tempted to point out that he hadn't spoken with them either and that reading at the table was the worst sort of manners possible, but refrained from doing so.

"Thanks," she muttered and stood up. After putting their dishes on the counter, they left the house.

"What should we do? It's only six now," Griffin asked as they walked the driveway.

"I don't know, I just needed to get out of there! How about taking a walk?"

Griffin made a gesture like 'lead the way' and they began their stroll around the neighborhood. The trip was spent in silence, broken only to point out something interesting. They were both too caught up in their own thoughts to take notice of the car approaching from behind. Although they were walking on the correct side of the road, the car was not, and the teenagers that were inside could hardly be considered on the right side themselves.

"Hey nerds!" the driver called out. His name was Butch and he was mean. He wore tight jeans, dog tags and always had a pack of cigarettes on him at all times. His posse was in his four seat sports car and all holding water guns.

When Sarah and Griffin turned they were both greeted by a splash of water in their direction. "I bet you think that's funny don't you!" Sarah yelled out. Butch and his friends started howling in mirth.

"Yeah I wonder how funny it would be if you woke up with a black eye tomorrow, Butch!" Griffin called, threatening them. He balled his fists up and prepared himself for a fight, something that comes natural whenever around Butch or his friends. "Or maybe a few broken bones!"

"Was that a threat?" Butch called. He parked his car on the wrong side of the road and swaggered out, but stumbling over his own feet. His friends made a move to get out as well but Butch laid up a hand to stop them. "This nerds mine!"

"You're drunk Butch! Don't do something you might regret," Sarah warned as Butch got closer. Griffin pushed Sarah behind him for protection and got himself prepared for a surprise punch if Butch should choose to deliver one.

"Naw, I'm always drunk," Butch said with a sneer.

"That explains a lot, you big wuss!" Griffin scoffed.

"Bring it on Dork StarTrekker," Butch taunted and threw the first punch. Now legally Griffin was allowed to hit back. The hit got Griffin in the arm but it made almost no difference because he retaliated by slugging Butch in the nose. Sarah made a move to get involved but Griffin pushed her back into the grass.

"Don't!" he warned. Butch nursed his bleeding nose with one hand: the other found its way to Griffin's stomach. Griffin doubled over in pain and Sarah attempted to get up. "Sit down!" yelled Griffin. "I'm fine!" he staggered over to Butch and stood right in front of him.

"Give up yet?" Butch taunted. Griffin was taller than the bully so he just gave a little smirk down at him.

"Never," he said and kicked his right in the sweet spot. Butch went to grab at his injury and Griffin slugged him in his already swollen nose and as Butch's hands went back up he got the wind knocked out of him by a swift punch in the gut.

"Damn! Let's get out of here Butch!" yelled his right- hand- man, Pete. Butch managed a scowl and hobbled into the passenger's side as Pete climbed into the drivers and revved the engine.

"This isn't over punk!" he called out as his car drove away. Sarah stood and ran to Griffin.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Butch will be feeling worse tomorrow then I will," he assured her.

"Damn I wish I could have been fighting alongside with you!" Sarah grumbled.

"Don't worry. If I get the whopping that I did just now again, I'll need you someday. But until then, we're late to get to Mark's. We were supposed to be there five minutes ago."

"You sure you're all right to walk?"

"I'm fine," he rolled his eyes. "Let's go, okay?"

They walked back to Mark's house and it only took them three minutes at a nice brisk pace. They knocked at the entrance and Mark came out with his evil scientist lab coat and goggles on.

"Come quick! It's in the back! Did you bring any sort of recording device?" they nodded, still stunned by his choice of wardrobe. He grabbed them both by the arm and pulled them in. He led them through the church and into the backyard.

"This church burned down in '62 right?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, its 48th anniversary is coming up soon… two days I believe," Mark explained.

"That's the twelfth?" Griffin asked. Mark nodded an affirmative.

"Something else happened that date in '62, but I just can't remember what!" Sarah exclaimed, frustrated.

"Yeah me too," Griffin agreed. Mark shrugged, too caught up in his own excitement.

"Here it is…!" he announced and gestured to the yard.

"Mark," Sarah began slowly. "There's nothing in this yard besides the van covered up with a tarp."

"Precisely!" he gushed. "Take out your recording tools please!" Sarah reached into her bag and pulled out her video camera while Griffin just grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. They got their instruments all ready and Mark looked as if he was going to pee in his pants from excitement.

"Okay, you are about to witness something so amazing, so undeniably wonderful it will blow your minds!"

"Are you sure you haven't blow your mind already?" Griffin murmured to Sarah. She rolled her eyes.

"Prepare to become face to face," he grabbed the edge of the tarp, "with the world's first and only," he pulled, "Time Traveling Machiney Thing!"

"That's the van," Griffin pointed out. Mark face punched himself.

"Yes, I know it's the van! But what's inside the van is what matters!"

"Disney Princess cassette tapes?" asked an amused Sarah.

"No!" exclaimed Mark with frustration. "No, no, no, no! The inside, inside! The engine! Observe!" he walked over to the front and popped the lid. "See this engine? Well, I programmed it to a computer which runs into there," he pointed to the inside dashboard, "where you can type in your location, where you want to go, and where to go back and such. Also, the engine runs on energy, heat or thermal energy, so it's ALSO connected to this solar panel!" He pointed to a solar panel on the lid.

"Well, how does it, like, go?" Griffin asked skeptically. "Like, connect to the space time continuum or whatever?"

"You know that movie Back to the Future?" they nodded vigorously, it being one of their favorite movies. "Well, I figured out how he did it and I did it the same way!"

"Isn't it patented though?" asked Sarah, not comprehending. Mark allowed himself another face punch.

"Well, yes, but no! I mean I actually did it!" Sarah and Griffin stared back with blank expressions.

"Watch!" Mark turned on the solar panel. "It needs to get exactly one hundred degrees though, which is annoying. You can't do it on a rainy day. We live in California though; it shouldn't be much of a problem, right?" He laughed to a un- amused audience. "Geez tough crowd. Anyway this should only take a few minutes to heat up, especially since it's so late in the day."

"Okay it's heated!" Mark exclaimed after a few tense minutes. He got into the driver's seat and backed the car up into the road.

"Shouldn't you test that thing first?" Sarah asked worryingly.

"Yeah in a place without this many people watching you?" Griffin added.

"No worries! Hannah Montana's on!"

"But what's that got to do with…" Sarah began and stopped as Mark started the car.

"You see with this one," Mark shouted "You don't need to drive as far to time travel as you do in that movie! Just press the gas since it's all heated up!"

"Maybe this isn't such a good…" Griffin started, but Mark had already pressed the gas and disappeared.

"What the…!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Where did he go?" Griffin shouted and ran to the place where Mark was last. He looked down the street and saw no one.

"Griffin, you might want to move, 'cause remember in the movie? He ended up right where he was last!"

"Oh yeah!" he replied and moved. Just as he stepped onto the pavement Mark's van reappeared right in that same spot. "That was some trick kid!"

"Did you get that on film?" Mark asked, stepping out of his car.

"Hell yeah!" Sarah exclaimed.

"So where do you want to go first?" asked Mark excitingly.

"Sarah was just saying this morning that it would be neat to go to the sixties," Griffin supplied and Sarah nodded vigorously.

"Nineteen- sixty- two it is!" Mark gleefully shouted and ran to the van again. Sarah and Griffin nervously followed.

"Chewie!" Griffin exclaimed and got into the passengers' side. Sarah took a seat in the back and leaned over to see past Griffin's shoulder.

"Here we go partners! Ye- haw!" Mark yelled. He put the gear in drive, and gassed it. Sarah and Griffin were thrown back into their seats but Mark just sat there laughing the whole time. They passed through a warp tunnel that looked a lot like hyperspace and the teenagers were entranced. What they thought would be a smooth landing changed quickly into a bumpy one as they landed. It turns out that forty- two years ago their houses were on the tip of a steep hill. A rock in the wheel caused Mark to jerk the steering wheel turning the car on its side. The teenagers screamed. Another strategically placed rock caused the car to flip, sending it tumbling down the hill. Luckily the seatbelts kept the kids in their seats, unluckily there was nothing keeping the car from turning.

When they reached the bottom Mark was the first to jump out of the car and access the damage. Sarah and Griffin climbed out of the car with expressions similar to one who just went on the worst roller coaster of their life.

"Is it okay?" Griffin managed.

"It seems fine… a few extra dents never hurt anybodeeeeee!" he screeched at the end to find that the solar panel was completely destroyed.

"That's vital… isn't it?" asked Sarah, a sick feeling creeping into her stomach.

"No…" Mark began, and then paused. "Yess!" he wailed. "That's the most important part! Well, almost."

"But a solar panel just captures energy right? Can't we just find heat another way?" Griffin asked desperatly.

"I'm sure we can… maybe we can use a lens or mirror to capture the energy from the sun… it doesn't have to be solar, mind you, but it's the easiest way…" he stopped talking when they heard a crack from up above. They looked up in time to see a lightning bolt and a sheet of rain come pouring down.

"Oh shi…." Griffin began but got an elbow in his side by Sarah.

"Great! Now we'll never get out of here!" Sarah yelled and kicked the tires.

"We should get inside the car," Mark said quietly. "It's unsafe to be out during a lightning storm." His friends just glared at him, their clothes slowly getting wetter and wetter. "Tomorrow we'll figure all this out, okay?"

They both nodded slowly and climbed in their seats without saying a word. Mark climbed in last. He turned on the radio.

The legendary Wolfman Jack's voice filled up the radio. "Gooooood afternoon California! It's the Wolfman Jack with a weather forecast for y'all tonight! This here storm that started, it's going to go on for a right round two days! That's right; the twelfth is when it ends! Now we get back to the music. Let's hear Johnnie .B. Goode by Chuck Berry! I hope all you teens out there are being good! School's almost over and we're gonna end it with a bang, ain't that right kids?"

Mark turned the radio off.

They slept.

**Soo…. What did you think? Um… maybe this belongs in Fictionpress… just, tell me what you think.**


	2. The Not So Bearded Genius

_Hey y'all. Obviously this didn't exactly get the impression I was hoping for. But whatever. I'll continue to write it for the two people reading out there, if not only 'cause I think it's a good idea. Thanks to my reviewer. I hope I can make people like this more :/ I know it's not that Star Wars-ie yet but I plan it to be like Fanboys, with little bits snuck in here and there. Thanks a bunch._

_May the Schwartz be with ya all._

**Modesto, California: June 11****th**** 1962 (Past)**

The next morning's rain seemed to mock them as it belt down on the sides and top of their van. The first one awake was Mark, and he went out exploring before the rest of the group woke up. When Griffin and Sarah woke up they were disconcerted to find that both their money and cousin were gone. Their feelings went away, however, when Mark returned with sixties outfits and hairspray.

Sarah got the back of the car to change, while Griffin and Mark took advantage of the front. Sarah once starred in the sixties play, "Hairspray" so she was the only one in the group to know how to properly do their hair. The boys' turned out to be easy, but hers was so long that the boys had to help out by using leftover paper towel rolls to curl her hair after the top was done. Luckily Sarah and Mark always carried contacts, just in case. They felt they needed to because their glasses were too modern.

When they were deemed acceptable, they risked the outside world. Mark sighed after one look at the van.

"The rain is taking off all the paint on the car!" Sarah cried unhappily.

"That took forever! Luke's not easy to paint, you know," Griffin whined. He had painted most of the details on the car and was very cross at the prospect of needing to do so again.

"Just get under the umbrella," sighed Mark. "We don't want to douse our do's."

"Yeah, God forbid I might have to do them all over again. Oh the horror!" Sarah rolled her eyes sarcastically. Mark gave her the stink eye as he opened the pale blue umbrella that he always carried in the van wherever he went, just in case. They all huddled up underneath the fabric and stared solemnly at the fading colors of their prized van.

After taking a minute of silence for their lost comrade, Griffin decided to break the silence. "Shall we get going then?"

"Yes sir." Mark grinned offering his arm up to Sarah at the same time Griffin did.

"Whatever," Sarah grumbled and accepted both arms. The boys grinned at one another and they began the trek into the town.

Modesto was a lot less crowded forty eight years ago it seemed. The three teens stood in awe at the sight of all the old fashioned Mustangs, T-Birds and Corvettes. It was a dream for Griffin, surrounded by such old models. Some cars he had never even seen before, they were so rare. Mark seemed to be more interested in the lack of technology on the pedestrians roaming the roads. Sarah was in awe at all the flashing lights, the crowds waiting in line for the cinema, the frilly dresses of the girls, and the way everyone said hello to one another passing in their cars.

She liked it. A lot.

The only thing that could have made the sight any better would be if there wasn't any rain. The water coming in sheets from the early morning sky ruined the illusion of the perfect society they found themselves in.

"It's really weird to think that in fifty years this will all be different," Mark interjected.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Come on," Griffin said softly. "Let's go find someone who can help us."

"Where do you think we should try first?" Mark asked. "I don't think many adults will listen to us without putting us in a shrink or something."

"Well, maybe we don't need to find an adult," Sarah pondered slowly. "Do we know anyone with a large imagination, a belief in the impossible, defiance for the rules, loyalty, intelligence and a slight nerdy that can help us here?"

"Er," Griffin thought aloud. "I can't think of anyone at the moment… maybe we should try the school. Downey High was still around forty eight years ago, right?"

"I'm pretty sure," Mark mused. "If it is it should be in the same place as it is now. It shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Well, let's get started then. But first we should get something to eat."

They looked around Main Street to find an acceptable café to eat at. It was still all too strange to the gang and they figured they looked like a bunch of lost tourists.

Soon a nice looking place caught their eye, it was the same place that in the future they would hang out in every Saturday. They had known the owner personally, but now they figured it would be pointless because it would be fifty years before they would ever know him, if it was even the same gentlemen.

The café had always given a sort of old and cozy feel to the world, but now it fit in perfectly with the rest of it. A considerably younger Sam sat behind the cashier, eyeing them suspiciously. Sam had taken quite a few years to crack, for he had been a grumpy old man before.

"Hey Sam," called Mark without thinking. He then slammed a hand against his mouth and stared helplessly at his friends, who rolled their eyes.

"I've never seen you kids before in my entire life," grumbled Sam, beginning to clean the countertop with the dirty towel he always kept in his apron.

"Our friends told us your name," Griffin fibbed casually.

"Who are your friends?" he pressed, glaring down at them.

"Mary Marques and Robert Nickerson, maybe you've heard of them?" Griffin replied. 'Of course,' thought Sarah, 'his parents!' "Have you seen them around lately?"

"Seen 'em! No one's seen 'em! They're always playing tonsil hockey everywhere they go! It's amazing they still have time for friends! Haven't seen their faces since September."

"Oh they're together now? What're they now? Sophomores?" asked Griffin happily. Unlike most kids, his parents eloped right after high school and happened to have quite a successful marriage. He had an older brother that the couple had after Robert graduated from college. Mary had stayed home to keep their house in order while Robert had tried to make a living by going to college.

"They've been making lip since August! Yeah, already in tenth grade and I can't wait for them to leave!" Sam had always been like this. Ever since he returned from World War II he had become cynical and doubtful of the world and had tried very hard not to make friends with anybody.

"Why aren't you kids in school?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Two hour delay," shrugged Griffin as if that explained everything.

"Although I seriously doubt that, I'm gonna serve you anyway. Business has been slow these times so I gotta make a life for me and the missus, right sonny?"

They all sat down on the booths and Sarah smiled at him. "Please Sam; we all know you're not married."

"I gotta a weird feeling about you kids," he said almost nervously. "What do you want?"

"Three Cokes?" Mark checked his friends and saw them nod. "And do you have any muffins?" They all knew he did but they always liked to annoy him by asking the same questions every day, one of which was 'do you have any muffins?'

"Yeah I got muffins," the three kids snickered; this was the answer they always loved to hear. "Chocolate, Bran or Corn." Observing their reactions, he made a decision. "You guys are kids, why did I even bother?" he exasperatedly said. "You want chocolate." The three teens smiled happily and Sam made his way back to the kitchen.

"God, I forgot what a grouch he was!" chuckled Sarah. "I'm so glad we converted him!"

"Yes, who said good work never paid off?" Griffin laughed. "We get free coupons every day!"

"Man you're parents were making out everywhere!" Mark made a disgusted face. "How does it feel?"

"Sort of weird. I always knew they were very affectionate, but I didn't know it was that bad. They're probably doing it just to annoy Sam. Boy am I proud of them!"

"My mom is still in New Jersey," Mark said glumly. "So they won't meet for another year. I wish I could see her."

"Where's your dad?" Sarah asked, a tad confused. "He's here, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he works in a car repair store. He sells parts. He couldn't finish High School because…"

"Our grandparents needed extra income! Now I remember!" Sarah finished. "That's awesome."

Sam then came back with three heated muffins. They shoved them down their throats, only stopping to occasionally swing a drink from the Coke bottles. Sam just stood in front of them, glaring disgustingly.

"You seem like you haven't eaten in fifty years!" Sam exclaimed queasily. Mark choked on the piece of muffin he was eating and Griffin began to pat him of the back. Sarah began to laugh and Sam scoffed.

It wasn't long after that all the kids were done. "Do you kids want to pay now?" asked Sam sarcastically. The kids pulled out what it usually cost to have breakfast at Sam's but Sam looked at them confused.

"It's just two dollars." Mark began choking again and Griffin sighed and began to pound his back again. Sam took the money, staring at them oddly. "You kids are really strange." Griffin shrugged and Sam went back to the kitchen.

"I could like this place," Sarah laughed.

Leaving the café, they began to walk the streets of California at a nice pace, only stopping briefly to apologize to a man they had bulldozed over because they had been looking at a particularly nice old fashioned vehicle that in the future, would be sold for quite a nice sum of money. After a while, a thought occurred to Sarah.

"How will we know who anyone is?"

Mark was baffled for a moment. "Well, I guess we'll just need to knick a yearbook from some guy. Or girl."

They turned a few corners and were met by a much smaller version of their school.

"They never did any renovations, my lightsaber," Griffin stated, looking at the building that would almost triple over the course of many decades.

"What if someone catches us and doesn't believe we're students?" Sarah whispered.

Griffin grinned. "That's why we're not going to get caught."

They stared at one another for a few seconds, silently daring the other to say what was clearly on the other's minds. Finally mark accepted the challenge. With a sideways grin that was a pathetic attempt at cool, he said, "I gotta a baaad feeling about this."

Griffin grinned back at him while Sarah just rolled her eyes.

Indeed.

Getting into the school wasn't a big problem, as they didn't have security camera surveillance yet. Now sneaking about the school without getting caught by teachers, well, that was a bit harder. They played their part well. During class they would act as rushing teens rushing to their lockers to retrieve a forgotten pen just in case teachers would pass by during their free periods.

It took a while to figure out where the lost and found was, as none of the lockers would open. They figured that would be the best strategy. So Mark and Griffin headed off in search of the box while Sarah continued her attempt to break into lockers. She was tugging on her own locker forty eight years ago when a shadow appeared behind her. She turned around with an innocent look on her face to find an eighteen year old boy with black hair slicked back and ears that stuck out a little. His intense eyes gazed into hers with such power that she wanted to spill all her deep, dark, bloody secrets from the time she was three.

"That's my locker," he said so quietly, so matter- of- fact like, that she almost missed it. As it was she was too busy swimming in the gray pools on his face.

"Excuse me?" she asked distractingly.

"That's my locker," he pointed to the metal prison for books behind her and that shook her out of the trance she was in.

"Oh sorry," she exclaimed, thinking up an excuse fast. "I'm new here and I swore that the number on the paper said 138. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he grumbled. She stepped aside as he opened his locker with his combination. When he noticed she was still standing there he sighed. "Aren't you a little dressed up for school, um, new broad?"

She glanced down at the layered dress with floral patterns on it, and then at all the other girls roaming the halls. "I guess I am," she mused. She continued to linger, curious as to what this boy did to her locker all those years ago. "Cars?" she asked when she got a good look. "Zorro? Jungle Pirates? _Spy Smasher?"_ she exclaimed. "Those are ancient!"

He gave her a funny look. "Those issues only came out last month."

Sarah scrunched her eyebrows together and then realized where she was. "Yeah, um, that's what I meant."

The boy almost smiled. "What's your name broad?" he asked in his quiet way of talking.

"Sarah," she said, looking behind him. There was a picture on the inside of him in a racing car. On the bottom there was lettering that read something strange…

"That's neat," he said in his monotone way of talking. "My name is…"

"George!" she exclaimed after getting a good look at the caption. "George Lucas! God, I knew you looked familiar!" her hands rushed to her head and her legs twitched as if they wanted desperately to pace.

"Er, yeah. Where have I seen you before?" George asked, surprised.

Sarah's eyes widened, again realizing her mistake. She took a soothing breath and began again, despite the fact that her heart was threatening to jump out of her chest onto the way- too- clean floors. "It's just that- er- my brother and I… um… my brother Mark and I, yeah Mark that's the one," she said quickly. "He's very into cars and he took me to see you race one day. And, um, I recognized your name, ah, you're really good," she bluffed.

"Where do you live?" he arched a suspicious eyebrow.

"Oh I uh, we moved in a few days ago so I don't really know the area that well," she shrugged helplessly. He began to pack his bag, giving her a strange look the whole time. "Sorry."

"Hey Sarah we found that thing you were looking for- gah!" Griffin stopped talking as soon as he reached her. He was holding a recent copy of the yearbook in his hand with Mark in tow.

"Hey! These are my friends!" Sarah cried, trying hard to keep talking to him in fear he would walk away. She was beginning to think that he was their only hope. "This is Mark, my brother," Mark made a choking noise and Sarah stood on his foot. "You know the one I was talking to you about?" George rolled his eyes and closed his locker. Sarah could tell he was getting anxious. "And this is Griffin."

"I've never seen you before," he eyed Griffin. "Why would you move with them?"

"Because," Sarah fibbed desperately, "Because he's my… well, he's my… he's my boyfriend." Now it was Griffin's turn to gag in surprise. "You know, going steady and all that."

"I guess that makes sense," he said slowly and quietly.

"_Honey muffins, _will you introduce us to your friend?" Griffin asked tightly. She gave him a look that clearly read, 'play along or I will destroy you'.

"This is George… George Lucas." Griffin dropped the book he was holding and Mark's jaw looked as if it were about to hit the floor. "You know, the racer you took me to see last summer?" she glared pointedly at Mark.

"Oh," Mark squeaked. "Yeah. Big fan, love cars, all that jazz." Mark vaguely remembered reading a biography on George a while ago saying he used to be a big fan of cars, of course until something happened. He felt it was clever of Sarah to remember this, if only she could remember that it was her beloved 'boyfriend' who loved cars and not him.

"How is this possible? This is the sixties! You're not even…" Griffin trailed off. He noticed that George was looking at him oddly and made up for it. "…that old to be such a fantastic driver! How do you do it?" he added politely and hoped it sounded more real to George than it did to himself. He internally winced at how lame it sounded.

"Yeah, well, I have to go. See you around."

George left. Sarah squared her shoulders. "We have to talk. Now."

They quickly exited the building along with many other kids going home for a quick lunch. Mark pulled out his umbrella and covered it over all three of them. They headed to a nearby bench.

"We just met George- freaking- Lucas," stated Griffin breathlessly. "I'm your boyfriend and we just met George- freaking- Lucas, all in an hour time period. I'm starting to think this is just about the best day ever."

"Well, think again," grumbled Sarah. "While we were talking to George it hit me. Cars. Car Wars. Car Wrecks. George Lucas is destined to get into his car accident tomorrow. You know the one where it totally turns him off from being a professional driver? Well that happens tomorrow. We are quite literally screwed."

"I knew I was missing something!" Mark cried. "I can't believe I forgot that!"

"Don't worry I should have known it too," Griffin replied tensely.

"Do you know what the worst part is? I think we need his help. You know, he IS the one who defines the next forty or so years of cinema. How much more imaginative can we get besides the man who created Star- freaking- Wars? Not to mention Indiana Jones, Willow, THX, and what the hell, even Pixar before he sold it! Great god…" she trailed off as she looked over at the church steeple peeking up over the trees. "And you know what else?"

"What…?" asked Griffin slowly.

"The church burns down tomorrow," she whispered. Here was a moment of silence before…

"That's it!" cried Mark, not even caring that he was getting soaked. "We need the thermal energy from the fire to start the car! Wolfman Jack said it was going to stop raining tomorrow too!"

"You're going to listen to Wolfman Jack?" Griffin made a face.

"No really!" Sarah butted in. "Legend has it that the last lightning bolt from the sky that day hit the power lines, causing the church to catch on fire. The rain stopped, not helping to douse the flames, and there you go. Barbequed church."

"Now we just need someone who knows a lot about cars to help us hook up a sort of energy absorbing device to connect to the van!" Mark exclaimed. They all looked at one another. They knew what they had to do.


	3. The Returning

_Why hello again! I'm back. If you don't remember this story that's okay because it was over in Star Wars before this and I figured that it was better fitted here. I hope you like it! This is chapter three of what I hope to be a five chapter story. I worked hard blah, blah, blah so I appreciate any kind words of encouragement or constructive criticism, blah blah._

_In case you didn't know, George Lucas is the inventor of Star Wars. Kind of important to know for this story. Steven Spielberg, executive producer of Back to the Future is best friends with him and they did the Indiana Jones movies together. If you didn't know all that I hope it helped clear things up. If you have any questions, you know how to get me._

_Disclaimer: I never have, will, or to this day own Back to the Future, Star Wars, E.T., George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, American Graffiti or anything else I may mention in this story. I own the three main characters. That is all._

**Modesto, California: June 11****th**** 1962 (Past)**

"But how are we supposed to convince him to help us?" Griffin asked his other two companions during dinner that evening. "I mean, he thinks we're weird!" They were flipping casually through the yearbook they had stolen, trying to find people they knew to try and help them. Every so often a surprised murmur of recognition was let out as they saw people they knew. So far Sarah had seen her now- junior father. Her mother was best friends with Mark's mother in New Jersey at the time.

"Do you think we could bring in the van to your father to get it fixed?" Sarah asked Mark while pointing at their neighbor. "It's so strange to see all of these… old people… all young."

"I know precisely what you are saying," Mark replied swiftly. "Maybe we could bring it in. And he could call George to ask for a possible job… if we could convince him. My dad was always very doubtful of people."

"I remember," Sarah sighed softly. The topic of Mark's parents had always been tread over carefully and it seemed to bring Mark sadness every time. "I know it's going to be hard for you to see him again."

Mark said nothing for a while and the group sat in a respective silence. It wasn't until Griffin opened the menu to look for something to eat that the feeling dissipated. "How about three burgers?"

They were back at Sam's Café for their meal and Sam was back to eyeballing them suspiciously while wiping the countertop more than necessary. They had decided to stay clear of his prying ears and chose a leather booth on the other side of the cash register. "Sure," Sarah answered back distractingly. "And look!" She pointed to the listed dates on the front of the yearbook. "The Sock Hop is tonight. At eight. If we can finish up here, meet your dad, we can make it and confront George to ask him for the job."

"If we can convince my father," added Mark.

"Yes, that would be the difficulty," Griffin replied dryly. "It will be cutting it rather close, but I think we can make it if we eat, like, now." He glanced at his companions faces and when they nodded he turned towards the counter where Sam looked up grumpily. "We'll have three burgers and three Soda Pops. Ya dig?"

"I 'dig' alright," mumbled the cook as he walked away noisily to the kitchens. "Stupid kids think they're so much better than me…"

Sarah grinned at Sam's expanse and turned back to the boys. "We need a strategy."

"We need the car fixed by noon tomorrow, that's when the old church burns down. So we'll need to start working on it by at least nine. It's very important that we get George's help tonight. And we need to get him on the road for his crash by… what was it Sarah?" Mark asked.

"I… I can't remember…" Sarah exclaimed with frustration. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and glared at the silverware. "I can usually do this, why not now?"

"It's alright Honey," Griffin said sympathetically as Sarah glared at him.

"Don't. Call. Me. Honey." She pronounced every syllable with precision and picked up a fork for good measure.

"But I thought that was what boyfriends called their girlfriends _sweetheart,_" Griffin taunted and held onto the hand that grasped the fork to prevent any possible injury to his person.

"Ladies. Stop with the love fest. This is a very dangerous situation," Mark interfered.

"But she started it by calling me her boyfriend!" Griffin let go of her hand and huffed into his seat, pouting like an accused child.

"I needed an excuse!" She yelled quietly so Sam wouldn't hear.

"You couldn't have called me your cousin, it had to be boyfriend. Therefore, you like me!" He exclaimed like it was the end of the conversation and crossed his arms, grinning proudly.

"What!" Her voice was now a dangerous whisper and the hand holding the fork was steadily rising level with his face once more.

"I'm sorry are you having trouble hearing? I said, You. Like. Me."

"No!"

"Uh- huh. Admit it."

"No!"

"Dinner's here," announced Mark gratefully. Both pairs of eyes shot angrily in his direction after interrupting their argument. "Hey, can we talk about your passionate love for one another later? Our dinner's here. This is a life or death situation after all."

Sarah sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Oh, I know I am," Griffin teased and Sarah opened her mouth as if to say something but shut it as Mark gave her an evil look with one of his electric blue eyes.

Sam walked over with their food and deposited it in front of them, giving each of them in turn a dirty look. "Your friends are over there, by the way." He pointed a grubby finger to the other only occupied seat in the diner. It contained two teenagers and they weren't picky about personal space. Griffin took a sharp intake of breath at the prospect of possibly meeting his parents.

"Should I…?" he whispered softly. Sarah and Mark looked at one another.

Sarah noticeably sighed. "If you feel you must."

"What should I say to them?" All of a sudden the overconfident boy dissipated leaving a sensitive excited one in its place. Sarah's eyes softened.

"Ask them to sign your yearbook." She handed him a yearbook and a pen, gesturing slightly to where the kissing couple were seated.

He took her offerings in one hand and pushed himself off the table with the other. Griffin slowly made his way over to the booth and every step seemed to last a lifetime.

"Er, excuse me," he began. No one moved. If anything the boy, Robert, grunted. "I was wondering if you could sign my yearbook." After another long kiss that made Griffin uncomfortable the pair split but not too far.

"Do I know you?" grunted Robert. His voice had the quality of not being used for a long time, which was a tad ironic.

"Yeah… I sit behind you in Physics," Griffin fibbed. Robert seemed to think about that for a second and then shrugged.

"I don't pay attention in that class anyway. Where's the pen?" Griffin handed over the yearbook and the pen. His mother Mary was twiddling her thumbs impatiently while gazing at Griffin's face with an awestruck look. Now the prospect of seeing his parents wasn't all that appealing, since he happened to look a great deal like them. Robert was oblivious to the resemblance as he scribbled away quickly. He then passed it to his girlfriend who also signed her signature.

"What's your name, Greaser?" Mary asked conversationally, taking great interest in the boy.

Griffin thought about it but figured it wouldn't cause any harm. "Griffin."

"Where do you come from, Griffin?"

"I moved from… eh, Montana," he listed off the first state that come to mind.

"I have a sister going to a University in Montana. Whereabouts?" Mary finished signing and looked at him expectantly.

Darn. That's where he thought of it. "Er… southern." She sighed and took that as an answer, handing back the yearbook to him and resuming the previous position.

"Thanks…" he trailed off and stuff a hand in his pocket uncomfortably and walked back to his friends. "Well, that was awkward." Sarah and Mark were silently snickering to themselves and Griffin gave the yearbook back to Sarah.

"You did wonderfully," Sarah giggled and read the messages that his future parents wrote. "I think they like you."

"Shut up," Griffin snapped crossly and folded his arms.

"No you, I mean it!" Sarah smiled. She took a big boyish bite of her burger and grinned at him.

"Yeah well, let's eat so we can get out of here," Mark announced and took a handful of fries. He made a face. "There's a lot of grease."

"Grease is the word," Sarah sighed happily and took a few more. "I love this place."

"Damn I hate tomatoes," Griffin muttered, still in an irritable mood. He plucked a few out of his burger. "Remind me when we get home to yell at Sam."

"After all that we've been through so far I think that's the least of our troubles."

They finished their meal fast, speaking rarely and about pointless things. They got up and paid Sam, then turned to leave. Griffin's parents were still at it and the teenager made a disgusted gagging sound. When the bell rung to announce their departure and as the cool night air hit their faces Griffin said, "That was ten times worse than walking in on your Grandparents kissing."

"It was tough for us too," Sarah comforted him teasingly. "Now Mark, do you know where the shop is?"

The night life was even more beautiful than the day life, especially since the rain had slowed to a slight drizzle, though they knew the rain would start again heavily in the morning. Ancient cars cruised along, calling to one another. Lights shone throughout the town and the teens had never seen anything more beautiful in their entire lives. "Nothing like home," Sarah muttered. Some things weren't all that fantastic, greasers' cat calling girls in frilly dresses, cigarettes and beer everywhere.

"They don't know the consequences yet," Griffin remarked sadly, his parents already out of his mind as his eyes shone with the headlights of a billion classic vehicles.

"I wish we could tell them… but they'd never listen to us," Mark muttered, his scientific mind calculating how many of these people would wind up with lung cancer. "This way, he isn't far." They were forced into a jog as the clock in the center of town rang six o'clock. "We're running out of time!"

After five minutes and sharp turns they reached an out- of- the- way car repair shop. Luckily Mark's father was just walking out to close shop.

"Mr. Johnson! Mr. Johnson!" the kids called. He looked up and waited for them to get closer. Out of breath Mark was the first to talk.

"We need your help."

Mr. Johnson looked at their faces, his still young. Mark's eyes had tears in them. They gazed hungrily all over his father's face, soaking in every detail. Mr. Johnson had never trusted a soul in his life, yet looking at these kids faces; he knew he had to help them. He looked back into his own eyes, the eyes of the nerdy looking boy and knew. Knew he needed to change.

"What do you need?"

Mark, Griffin and Sarah all hid in the bushes close to the school.

"Get in there, tell him, and get out. Got it?" Griffin went over once more.

"Yes sir." Sarah rolled her eyes and looked at her cousin.

"Mark, you get the bathrooms and classrooms, I'll get the grounds. Sarah, you can get the gym." They took out their cell phones. "Only for emergency," he repeated. "If anyone got these it would cause the next Civil War. Let's not let that happen."

"Got it."

"Let's move." Mark ran into the school, forgetting any warnings of staying incognito.

Griffin turned to Sarah. "Stay safe, okay?" She gazed calmly back at him.

"What could happen?"

Mark tiptoed through the hallways, looking for teachers. When he saw none he began to walk a little faster. Luckily he knew where all the bathrooms were, so finding them was no problem. And the school was small so this would take no time at all. Mark knew that they chose a job for him that wouldn't involve noise or making a fool out of himself, which happened a lot.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about that.

Reaching the first men's bathroom, he peeked inside each empty stall.

Nothing. Onto the next one.

Sarah's job was a bit harder. As she reached the gym where the sock hop was being held she heard noise, a lot of sixties noise. As great as the music and dancing was going to be to watch, when she slipped into the room to see hundreds of students doing the twist, mashed potato, screaming, walking and jumping she knew this was going to be hard to locate one person.

Every journey starts with the first step, right?

Griffin moved about the ground with a heavy precision, not missing a single inch where a gawky teenage boy could be. The first half of his school was all lawn so it really wasn't supposed to be that hard, but with no flashlight he was relying on the minimal light coming from the classrooms from supposed teacher chaperones.

He stopped when he heard an interesting noise coming from the parking lot. It sounded like a bunch of rowdy, drunk boys. Griffin had a familiarity with these sorts of boys after going to school with Butch so he knew exactly what was going on. A nerd was getting picked on.

In a twisted way he hoped it was the nerd he was looking for.

Sarah had been asking around, but most people had said they didn't know where George had gone after the first few minutes, and if he was even there at all where he would be.

As frustrated as she was, she just wanted to jump into the throng of people and do the Stroll. The live band was jamming away on old fashioned microphones and the melodies seemed to meld together until she didn't know what boy sang what, it just sounded right. 'This isn't anything like home,' she thought to herself distractingly. The appearance of her cousin startled her.

"He's not in any of the classrooms or bathrooms."

"I've asked almost everyone here and no one knows where he is or where he might be."

"Griffin was supposed to meet us here, wasn't he?" Mark sounded anxious.

"I know. Makes me wonder what's going on that could be so interesting on the grounds. Let's hope that he found him or else we're all in big trouble."

"Stop it John, you don't know what you're doing," George Lucas said calmly as John Burbury, father of Butch Burbury, swaggered over to him in the way drunk people tend to swagger.

"No Georgie. And you know very well my name is Fang," he slurred and broke a beer bottle on a nearby Cadillac. A closely observant Griffin winced as the bottle left a dent in the beautiful car. The group of cronies surrounding George and John grew tighter, closing them both in. George backed into his car, trapped. "I'm gonna make your world into a lot of hurt, boy."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Griffin announced heroically and stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight provided by an overhead parking lot light. John turned around and the light caught itself around the beer bottles edges, making it almost seem sharper. Griffin began to wonder if this was such a good idea after all.

"What're you supposed to be, John Wayne?" John scoffed and his friends cackled stupidly behind him.

"It's not very nice to pick on people," somehow Griffin spoke through his haze of doubt and stood strong, knowing what was coming. "Especially when it's six to one." Behind his own back a length of rope was hidden that Griffin planned on using if the situation called for it.

"Ah Georgie, you've got yourself a nerd friend. Too bad he's not gonna save you none." Butch's father held up the broken bottle threateningly and took a step closer to the slightly scared teenager.

"You couldn't hurt me if you tried, if your fighting skills are the same as your intelligence level."

"I gots smarts where I need 'em. I don't need no know it all nerds talking to me like I need an education. I gots street smarts and people respect 'em. You're about to learn a lesson in respectin' the road, nerd." John lunged forward hitting Griffin straight in the gut. As the boys laughed teasingly, Griffin sank to the ground, his rope sliding beneath the Cadillac. John was a lot heavier and muscular than Butch and Griffin knew he wouldn't last very long with this new component.

He hoped he would get backup soon, otherwise they might not even get the chance to go back to the future.

Or worse. Griffin might not even be alive to live in the past.

"I can feel it! Something bad has definitely happened to him! I have to help him," Sarah cried determinedly after waiting another ten minutes for Griffin to arrive.

"What do you want me to do?" asked a panicking Mark.

"Stay here, and if they come back call me!" Sarah called over her shoulder and left the gym at a run, knocking over some unlucky dancers.

Mark tried to stay still, he really did. But he couldn't help just talking to the band. Music had always been a passion of his, along with science and math. When he was cooped up all those long years at his abandoned church he would strum his guitar and play late sixties music.

This was the chance of a lifetime.

"We're going to be going on a short break now," cried the lead singer of the band into his microphone and talking a sip of water. "We'll be back in about ten minutes."

As the group left the stage, Mark was waiting for them.

"So you're our soloist?" asked the drummer. "You'd better get up there, kids don't like it when there ain't music playing at a sock hop. You were supposed to be here a half hour ago!"

"But I'm not…" Mark began but not before the Bass Guitar player pushed him up on stage and the crowd of teenagers wailed loudly for more music. He slowly and awkwardly strode up to the microphone. "Er, how are you all tonight? Having fun?" A positive roar of approval reached his ears and he found himself picking up the guitar laying on the stage floor. "You guys know all about Buddy Holly, right?" Another round of enthusiastic cries almost deafened him. "Well, I'm going to play a few of his songs if that's alright with you?" The throb of the teenagers voices was a pleasant one and as Mark raised the guitar to a playing position he felt the music come from him naturally.

For once in his life, Mark Johnson was popular.

Griffin staggered up from the fatal position slowly, still winded from that last punch. He twisted his neck back and forth, cracking it. He tugged at his collar, pulling the outer leather jacket from his person and laying it on the innocent car next to them. He then rolled up his sleeves and stuck up his fists.

"Bring it on Jonny cakes."

John himself grinned, cracking his own fingers. "Oh, I will." He then lunged for the boy's head and Griffin dodged it, landing his own punch on John's side. John grabbed his side momentarily but then retaliated by elbowing Griffin in the face, making the boy step back a few times. He grabbed for his nose and John kicked him in the upper thigh and Griffin's body reacted on its own accord, leaning forward slightly.

Griffin knew he was going to hurt in the morning anyway, so he figured he mind as well make this guy hurt too. From this forward position, he ran forward to tackle the bigger boy. While John was taken aback for a few seconds he quickly recovered by taking Griffin's hand and twisting it behind his back, using his other arm to put him in a headlock. He nodded to his right hand man, Pete's future father, who raised up a fist to punch the prone Griffin, but then a roar of a familiar engine stopped him.

It was Sarah in their car. She saw the trouble that Griffin was getting into at George's expanse and quickly used deductive reasoning to choose which one of the cars in the parking lot was John's. Hotwiring the vehicle at an alarming rate, she got in the car and began to drive towards the fight.

"Our car!" Butch's father screamed angrily. "A broad is stealing our car!"

Sarah quickly put a pack of beer on the gas pedal and jumped out of the driver's seat right before the car landed conveniently in the pond located just on the outside of the school. John immediately dropped Griffin and Sarah stealthily made her way to him in the shadows. The group of greasers ran towards the vehicle in an attempt to selvedge some of it and left the boys alone.

"Are you alright?" asked Sarah worriedly once she made her way to Griffin, who was now trying to prevent the flow of blood coming from his nose. George had a look of horror on his face, a mix of gratefulness and awe at what this stranger did for him.

"…I'm fine, really I'm okay…" he stated unconvincingly as Sarah helped him stand up.

"They're going to be back soon," George stated quietly. "Get in the car." Sarah helped Griffin into the backseat quickly and George focused on driving. He pulled out of the parking lot. "Isn't there three of you?" he mumbled.

"Mark!" she exclaimed. "He's still in the gym!"

George made a u- turn at a nearby gas station and turned into another entrance to the school, the one that lead directly to the gymnasium. Sarah laid Griffin across the backseat carefully as he groaned and George parked the car. The two of them got out quickly and moved to the double doors. With a dramatic flourish they pushed them open to reveal an enthusiastic Mark now doing a guitar solo to a pleased crowd of sixties teenagers. Both Sarah's and George's mouths turned into small surprised O's. Mark finished and saw them out of the corner of his eye. He waved and stood up to direct his attention to the student body.

"Thank you all! Goodnight!" He put the guitar down and leaped off of the stage into the crowd below. The audience clapped thunderously and when Mark reached them he had a smile a mile wide.

"Wow," was all Sarah could accomplish. George shifted uncomfortably on his feet but Mark could tell he liked his display.

"Let's blow this soda pop stand! Oh yeah!" he pushed open both double doors and crossed the street in a manner that could only be seen as cool. The two left in the gym shook themselves out of their stupor and followed him in a daze. Mark was leaning on the car, snapping his fingers and nodding at passing girls.

George let them both in and Mark was shaken out of his temporary cool phase by the sight of Griffin bleeding on the backseat. Mark took the passenger's side front seat while Sarah resumed her position as Griffin's pillow in the back. Naturally the rock star demanded an explanation.

When Sarah finished it was all silent. George, surprisingly, was the first to speak. He pulled over to the side of the road and gazed intensely at the three teens.

"Is there any way to thank you for what you did?"

Mark and Sarah glanced at one another briefly, thinking the same thing. It wasn't the exact plan, but a better one.

Sarah decided to ask him. "We've been having some car troubles and we need it fixed by tomorrow at eleven thirty. We need your help."

George seemed hesitant. "I don't know…"

Sarah leaned over and looked straight back at him. "This may not make any sense to you now, or maybe ever. But you need to trust us. You are a brilliant man who will be an influence on many people's lives in the future, in our future, if you'll just help us. Please."

George was silent, gazing back at her. Finally he spoke. "You're in some sort of trouble, aren't you?"

Sarah knew at that moment the few words that would get George to help them. She spoke them carefully, clearly and confidently. "Many years ago, in decades long, long gone, you taught people that to be a hero you need to act like one. Be a hero George Lucas. Help us." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them she found George's still looking at hers intently.

"Help us George Lucas, you're our only hope."

He finally broke eye contact, staring straight ahead at the road in front of him. He closed his eyes. The words about heroism, about friendship and help seemed to speak to him, starting a wheel in his brain that began to turn.

"_Help me Obi- Wan Kenobi… you're my only hope…"_

"I'll do it," he said in a voice little above a whisper.

A breath was exhaled through all three time travelers and they couldn't believe their ears.

"Where do I need to go?"

"Johnson's repair shop on Main Street. At eight o'clock, precisely." Sarah squealed and George started the car again.

Griffin reached up to stroke her hair. "We did it…" he whispered hoarsely.

"No…" Sarah said back. "You did it."

"We better hope this works," Mark stated loudly as they rolled in the van to the maintenance spot in Johnson's garage.

"If we don't try then we'll never know," Griffin replied wisely and winced as a particularly sharp part hit him in the black and blue spot on his stomach. He had several bandages placed around his body that covered up the evidence of his beating the night before. Sarah had been refusing to look at him in the eye because she had been volunteered by the other two to be the one to help put them on him. Luckily there were no awkwardly placed injuries, but it was an experience she just wasn't ready for.

Mr. Johnson walked out of the mechanic office and took a critical look at the vehicle. "This is going to take at least a few hours."

"We know," they said at once. Mark had, in a plastic bag, a recently purchased heat unit that could be connected to the special part of the engine once they were in reach of the fire. The rain was beating hard against the pavement again, which only succeeded in making the kids more nervous than they already were.

George's nice car could be seen rolling into the parking lot and he climbed out with a hood on. He ran though the garage door and to the kids.

"What's first on the agenda?"

Mr. Johnson pursed his lips tightly and said, "Well, let's start with replacing the tires."

It was nearly eleven forty five by the time the team was finished and the three teenagers were getting nervous. They quickly paid Mr. Johnson in the sixties surprisingly low currency and Mark looked like he was strongly resisting the urge to hug the man.

"Thank you," he let out slowly, gazing into his father's eyes like he never wanted to stop.

"No problem kid. Be sure to come back soon, ya hear?" Mark's father shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. He felt he should be suspicious of these kids, but he wasn't and that made him nervous.

They turned to George. "Thank you so much for everything you've done for us," Sarah told him warmly, grease smudges now covering her face. We'll never forget you. I wish you luck with everything you set out to do. And remember, when things seem lowest, just remember to follow your feelings and trust your instincts. You'll change the world."

George looked to each kid's face. "I should be thanking you." He looked extra long at Griffin.

"It's alright. I'd take a punch for a friend any day." Griffin could have sworn he saw the teen genius smile a little. "See you around, kid."

They all climbed into the van and headed off to the old church, waving behind at the two they left behind until they were dots.

When the group reached the church they kept a respectable distance. "Only five more minutes…" muttered Mark. Just as he said that the rain seemed to let up a little suddenly. The group felt strange, like they knew so much more than the people around them. Sarah and Griffin looked across the streets to the land that would become their homes within the next few years.

A crack could be heard from above when the time finally was up. The storm's last attempt. It hit one of the few power lines and a spark could be seen. The telephone pole fell into the church and a spark caught on one of the numerous curtains that were there. Luckily no one was in the building, but the three kids were entranced as the legendary fire burned in front of their very eyes. Soon the whole building was up in flames with no rain to douse the fire.

They drove slowly closer to the sight and Mark jumped out of the car. They knew that the firefighters would be coming soon so they needed to work fast. He took out the heating unit and attached it to the engine while tossing the other end into the flames and jumping into the car. He took the driver's seat from Griffin and waited for the temperature to rise. In no time at all it was the desired temperature and he started the engines.

They were gone.

But when the group returned, the world in the present was very different from how they remembered it.

In a bad way.

_And so…?_


	4. The Fix

**It just occurred to me that the parent's of these kids would be REALLY old. But let's pretend they're not. ;)**

**Thanks to all you lovely reviewers. You keep me young (uh, I'm fifteen but still. Thanks.).**

**Modesto, California: Saturday, June 12****th**** 2010 (present)**

The van slid smoothly in front of the church. They quickly unbuckled their seat belts and took a deep breath and smiled at one another. "We did it," Sarah whispered.

But when they stepped out of their doors and into the world they were familiar with. But the sight they were gifted with wasn't quite what they expected. "I don't think we're in Modesto anymore," Griffin mumbled.

"No," Mark replied, furrowing his eyebrows. "We're in California. Just not _our_ California."

The town was empty. The church was the only thing in the neighborhood. It was just like a ghost town. Griffin and Sarah's mouths were open in astonishment as their homes never existed. The hill that they crashed down yesterday in the sixties was still there, only flattened at the top so the mistake previously made was avoided. Still, no homes were on the block and the church looked even more abandoned as Mark had never lived in it in this alternative future.

"What did we do!" Sarah cried.

"I don't know," Mark replied slowly, but a light shone in his eyes. "But it seems that our parents never lived here. Which we can conclude to mean that our dad's never met up with our mom's at the Empire Strikes Back movie premiere and they never did a double date… we might not exist!" Mark was pacing up and down in a nervously excited way. "I mean, Griffin probably still exists but not around here. This town is a ghost town. Sarah and I probably have only twenty four hours left before we disappear into the space time continuum forever!"

"You do have a plan though?" Griffin recognized that light, as he did many projects with the boy at school.

"Well, I know how we can check what happened." Mark hopped back in the van. "To the library!"

"I could have thought of that!" Sarah exclaimed sarcastically.

Even the library was different than before. Computers looked like the ones from the nineties and not as many films covered the space of the shelves. Renovations remained undone and an entire wing wasn't built. No Disney/Pixar movies were in sight. Sarah scanned the shelves for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, American Graffiti, Willow, or even the Clone Wars. None could be found. In the century she remembered there had been an abundance of Lucasfilm movies, as it was his hometown. She began to panic when she scanned the shelves and none of the usual Sci- Fi books were there. Even a cheap rip- off would have soothed her anxieties.

Strangely enough JAWS, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Back to the Future and E.T. were on the shelves, though Sarah suspected dejectedly that some modifications were made to the children's rooms in E.T. as they had been covered with Star Wars merchandise before.

"Sarah, get over here!" Mark called across the library and got the evil eye from a watchful librarian. "Sorry ma'am," he whispered and cringed.

Griffin and Sarah both took chairs on either side of him and peered over his shoulders to look at the old model's screen.

He typed into a search engine the name, 'George Lucas'. They took in an audible breath as the old computer took a few long seconds to load. Mark clicked on the very first link to pop up.

"It's the same car repair store that my father used to work at… the one we just left," Mark murmured. "He still works there."

They all stared astonishingly at one another. "Look up the others," Griffin commanded softly.

"Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia." Mark scanned through the links. "Prison. She and her brother got busted for drugs. Many times. She's in a lot of trouble, and nearly bankrupt. Married three times and four children she can't take care of. Debbie, her mother, and Elizabeth Taylor are still friends however."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yes, that's the good part. Thank God, the future is saved."

"Try Mark Hamill," Griffin said again, looking pale.

"Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker. A talented actor that never got discovered. Works at a dentist's office in California with his wife Marylou York. At least they're together, right?" Mark sounded desperate. He reached for the keyboards to pull up another name. "Anthony Daniels, See- Threepio. Works at a circus. Kenny Baker, Artoo Detoo. Little person stunt double. When not working on films he spends his time at a gas station. Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca. Unknown. David Prowse, Darth Vader. Continued weight lifting. Hayden Christensen, Anakin Skywalker. Doesn't turn up for anything, though he's on twitter. Natalie Portman, Padmé Amidala. Failed child star who never shot up. Sir Alec Guinness, Obi Wan Kenobi fades into the history of Hollywood… looks like the young Obi Wan, Ewan McGregor is the only one with a successful career, along with Mace Windu, Samuel L. Jackson. James Earl Jones, voice of Darth Vader, is famous only for his role in The Lion King. Billy Dee Williams, Lando Calrissian, known only for his role in The Lady Sings the Blues."

"Harrison Ford?" Sarah whispered slowly.

"I'm afraid to even look," Mark said softly. Harrison Ford, or Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Deckard and many others. A Hollywood legend in his own right.

"I think it would be better for all of us if we knew," Griffin stated.

Mark typed in the superstar's name after taking a few calming breaths.

"Married to his first wife in our time, Mary. Carpenter… no surprise… three kids."

"Not so bad…" murmured Sarah to herself.

"Wait…" Mark scrolled down the page. "It says here that he fell off of a roof while installing something and broke his back! He's been paralyzed for the past twenty years!"

There was a moment of silence and Sarah looked as if she were about to cry. They looked away from the screen and out a window.

"We can still change this. We just need to know what happened. There's one way we can do that." Sarah glanced at her two best friends. "We need to find George Lucas."

"What do you kids want?" the mechanic asked as the trio jogged into the auto shop seemingly for the billionth time that day. The ragged looking auto shop worker was different from the George Lucas they knew from their time. Not only was he considerably thinner, but the trademark beard was missing along with the intelligent and happy look in his eyes. Now they just looked regretful and sad.

They looked astonished at the major differences in the separate worlds, especially the one in front of them. Sarah and Griffin glanced at one another and stared around the shop. In the fifty years between their return not many changes happened in the shop.

"We want your story. We need to know what happened in the past fifty years. To you." Mark had a strong tone in his voice that had never been there before. He understood the severity of the situation and was determined to fix the mistake made.

There was a long pause as the older mechanic wiped the grease from his hands on his gray overalls. He stared at the serious teenagers and a slight smirk reached his lips. "Do I know you?" It was more sarcastic than anything and Sarah was beginning to doubt the likelihood of his help.

"This is very important. We need five minutes of your time. Please. You're our only hope." Mark unintentionally spoke the words Sarah told him only yesterday.

George, who was sorting through tools at glancing at them with interest suddenly froze. He turned to them. "…what did you say?"

Sarah sighed, realizing what Mark told him and how it paralleled to her words. She took a few strides and looked up into the now wrinkled eyes of her hero. "You need to help us. We made a mistake. You need us, and we need you. Help us correct this mistake, and trust us, you'll benefit."

There was another long pause as they stared down at one another. The smile returned as the words reverberated through his head.

"I can't believe I'm saying this." He glanced toward the ceiling. "But I have time."

The office in back was cramped with papers, old fashioned comic books and posters of old fashioned models that the teens had seen in person just that morning. The large desk seemed small with four people surrounding it.

"Did you have an accident this date, forty eight years ago?" Mark leaned over in his chair.

The man looked off into space. "Not forty eight years ago. This day all that long ago I got a job at this very shop. Soon I tired of it. I went out to pursue my dream as an auto racer." The kids sighed and their shoulders drooped. "That didn't turn out so well. By the time I turned thirty I wasn't racing at any famous place, and no one took any notice of me. Then I had an accident. I was getting too old for the racing world and one of the competitors decided that he wanted one less person to contend with and pushed me into a side wall. It looked like an accident on my part but we all knew he did it. I broke a few bones and got fired. Mr. Johnson, the previous owner of this place was kind enough to give me my old job back. Been working here ever since."

"Whatever happened to Mr. Johnson?" Mark's voice trembled.

"He left about ten years ago to go help his sick mother. He never kept in touch." Mark closed his eyes and grimaced.

"He wouldn't," Mark mumbled and Sarah patted his back.

"Mr. Lucas, what if we told you that we knew of a way to change your future, to make sure all this never happens. We can promise you that you'll be happier than you are now," Griffin solemnly told him. George stared at the kids in turn.

"I have nothing else better to do with my time."

The trio smiled.

"This may sound crazy… but there's this time machine we made…" Mark began.

"You can't be serious." George was more assertive and negative than in the alternate future the kids remembered.

"Mark, _you_ made it. And yes, unfortunately it's true. Just… follow us," Griffin said with a sigh and stood up. "It's parked outside."

Just as Mr. Johnson was convinced to help these kids all so long ago, George felt a strange desire to help them as well. He also felt his creative brain kicking into motion in a way that it had not since he had read superhero comic books when he was young. The possibility of an actual time machine that worked was just unimaginable, yet got his blood flowing.

"Here it is," Sarah gestured to the now rusty car. George felt like he knew these kids and this car but it did not stop him from snickering.

"That's what we call a piece of crap," he commented.

Griffin tried hard not to roll his eyes. "It was a lot prettier until the sixties water got to it. Get inside please, Mr. Lucas."

"Name's George…" he grumbled and got into the passenger's seat with Mark at the drivers. Sarah and Griffin took their respective seats in the back and gripped the top of the seats anxiously.

"Just our luck to have it not work when we need it to," Sarah complained negatively.

"Don't jinx us," Griffin commanded and she could see the tips of his fingers grow white from gripping the seat in front of him too hard from nervousness.

"Are you sweating?" she asked, astonished.

"No!" he answered and turned to Mark. "Can we get this thing done so we can go home?"

"I'm working on it," Mark said levelly and searched through his pockets to find the correct key. "We'll need to go in time to yesterday, to leave a note at Sam's for ourselves later. Mr. Lu- ah, George, we'll need you to help us out on fixing the van."

"It's broken?"

"It's a long story," Griffin explained to him. "Sir, you might want to hold on." They all grabbed onto the handles on the roof of the car as mark started the engine after inserting the key and presetting the time into the memory.

"Here we go again," Sarah replied while stealing a glance at Griffin. He gulped.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he warned Mark.

"Yeah, me too."

"What?" George asked quickly just as the car lurched forward and began to travel back through time.

**Modesto, California: June 11****th**** 1962 (past)**

The car jumped to a stop right in front of the car repair shop. Mark quickly changed the feature to normal drive just in case their prying selves decided to take a trip to the shop early.

George was astonished by the sudden jump in time and had a look on his face as if he'd just seen a ghost pop out from the bushes. "How is this possible…?"

"Science," replied Mark. "Sci- fi. You'll learn to love it."

"You see Mr. Lucas, where we come from you made a major mark on hundreds of people's lives, become rich and famous, and even change cinematic history. We made a mistake this day forty right years ago by not letting a certain action in your past happen. We need to let that event occur or else the future, well, will be like the one we just left," Sarah explained. "Trust us, we're as creeped out by all this as you are. But I hope you understand the severity of what is going to take place if you don't help us. Mark and I might even exist! Your movie is what got our parents together and without that…" the two glanced at each other. "We'll disappear. Like we never even existed. Along with hundreds of other people. Modesto flourishes because of everything you've done. Do you remember the way you just left it? It can be so much better!"

George seemed skeptical that he could possibly be the cause of so many great things. He also was in awe of the many sights laid out in front of him, the shop lights, the radios, the old cars he loved so much.

"Just like I remember it…" he trailed off. He then turned to the kids. "If everything you say is true, well, then I want to help."

Griffin smiled. "That's what we want to hear!"

"We'll need to give a message to ourselves at Sam's diner before we get there. We can't have two of ourselves fixing the car, and we certainly cannot under any circumstances run into one another. That would ruin the entire course of history!" Mark was excited as he reached a stop light and bounced in his seat.

"Too late for that," replied Griffin evenly. "And stop doing that, you're acting like a child."

"I'm excited, okay?" he whined and the two teens in the back gave each other amused glances. Sarah then proceeded to write their future selves a letter with information regarding the future. The plan was to give it to Sam to hand it to the kids once they settled in to eat their dinner. "If my calculations are correct we ate dinner at six thirty. We have twenty minutes to get in, get out and hide for tomorrow."

"Let's hope Sam gives the note to us," Griffin pointed out.

"Just be positive," Mark replied, eyebrows furrowed and his expression worried. "He'll do it."

George's mouth upturned into a smile. "Sam? From Sam's diner? I haven't been there in so long…"

"Oh yeah?" Griffin asked. "Well than this'll really freak you out."

They pulled up to the front of Sam's diner and went through the door into the room. This sight was becoming well known to the teens but George was awestruck at the changes. "Sam's went out of business in nineteen eighty when the population became too low," he remarked quietly.

Sarah and the boys stared at each other in shock. So many lives were depended on the completion of this mission. Including their own.

Luckily the pass off between Sam and the other three kids running around was successful; the kids went to check that Sam had actually accomplished the task later in the night while the sock hop was going on through careful dialogue. Sam was naturally suspicious but the teenagers assured him that the only reason he needed to give them the paper was so they didn't lose it while driving around. A long shot, but the owner of the diner fell for it.

That night the youths and George decided to sleep in the old abandoned church house.

"What's the plan?" asked George late that night as they laid out blankets to sleep on.

"We'll wake up really early in the morning, before the shop even opens. Have you ever changed the locks?" Mark informed him.

"No. Never had the money," George replied sadly.

Mark gave him a slight smile. "This will work to our advantage. We will begin to fix the van, getting out by the time our other selves arrive. This in turn will cut the work to be done in half, causing us to leave earlier and for you to… achieve the event that changes history."

"Sounds good," Griffin remarked.

"And under all circumstances we are not allowed to see our other selves or cause disastrous changes to the space time continuum!"

"As if that hasn't happened already," Sarah remarked slyly. Mark gave her a dirty look and she shrugged, settling into her blanket. "What?"

"You know, yesterday I would never have believed this to have happened," George stated as he too wrapped himself in his blanket.

"Trust me. Neither have I…"

**Modesto, California: June 12****th**** 1962 (past)**

"Okay we're in…" George said at five thirty that morning as they quietly snuck into the garage, as not to wake up any neighbors and cause a disturbance.

Once inside they shut all the blinds until it was dark and Sarah flipped the light switch. A dull light flooded the store and shined upon the lone van.

"Wow it is in bad shape," George told the solemn children. They nodded glumly and crouched over the tool chest.

"We better get started," Griffin said as he picked up a wrench. "This may take a while."

The group worked really hard for the next few hours and managed to get a substantial amount of work done, enough to cut the soon returning kid's work load by half.

"If everything goes right they should be finished long before they need to," Sarah said delightedly while wiping a grease smudged hand over her sweating forehead. "We need to head out before they get here."

The blinds were put back into their original position and the lights were dimmed. As quietly as before the group trudged out and into the working van parked in a nearby alleyway.

"I'm guessing we need to wait until the other kids go back to the future before we can," Griffin guessed, looking to Mark for his answer. Mark nodded and put a finger over his lips. Sarah went to pick up a book but instead gave a muffled cry as she got a good look at her hand.

There was a three by three inch circle of flesh missing from her hand. She stuck a finger from her other hand through the hole and whimpered. "It's gone," she cried hoarsely.

"It's begun…" Mark looked pale.

"What has?" asked George nervously. He glanced at his body to make sure that nothing significant was missing.

Mark gulped and continued as Griffin climbed over the passenger's seat to get a good look at Sarah's hand as well. He too was white as a ghost when he turned her blemished hand over between his palms. "Since the event you missed was so important to our parents, they never met. If this event is not reversed then Sarah and I will cease to exist. Making us just a memory… and since Griffin is trapped in the past with us… if he doesn't return before we disappear completely then he too will be erased from history!"

"There is a way to fix this, right?" Sarah asked, her voice filled with a desperate panic. "I mean… more of me won't disappear, will it?"

"If our other selves manage to get the job done and get out of here then, yes, we'll be fine. But if they don't… God help us all."

And with that happy thought the past few hours were spend in agonizing torture. It wasn't long before they saw the other batch of kids arrive with a younger George. George was stunned at seeing himself in a younger form and smiled. A sad sort of smile.

About thirty minutes in, Sarah gave another whimper from where she sat on Griffin's lap. Her whole body tensed up as the invisible force continued to creep up her left arm, taking flesh along with it. Now she had only a half of a forearm to her left side.

"Lemme see…" Mark murmured and reached out with his hand, his eyes widening once he took a look at the appendage he just stretched out. "Oh my goodness…" a hole similar to the one Sarah had a half an hour earlier had appeared and seemed to be getting wider by the second.

"Hurry up…" Griffin silently begged their other selves in the garage shop.

An occasional cry continued to ring out in the otherwise silent van as the other members of the group discovered other missing body parts. An audible sigh of relief could be heard pass through the van when they saw the garage door open and the van being driven out three hours before schedule. The recently fixed van paused for a moment and drove away to the church where the fire would soon begin in three hours.

"We have to wait another three hours," Griffin miserably said.

"I know," Mark replied and his eyebrows furrowed. "Let's just hope that Sarah can hold up until then."

Sarah glanced down at her body and all its missing parts. She wasn't entirely confident that she could make it very much longer. "I'll try my hardest," she squeaked nervously.

Mark took a steadying breath. "We have time to kill. Let's take a ride. It's not every day we get to experience the sixties." Nervous agreement was heard throughout the car and Mark revved the engine.

Passing down Main Street was beautiful but the vans occupants gave it a reverent silence that was partially responsible for their current position, but also partially for the beauty of this forgotten world.

All too soon and then not soon enough their time was up and Mark began to head over to the church. "We need to leave after them, so they won't see us. Luckily it burns for another half hour after we leave the first time so we should have time to get there and leave before any help arrives to quench the flames."

Sarah was almost white with anticipation. Only a portion of her chest and head remained. "Hurry up!" tears were now streaming across her face and Griffin stroked her hair quietly.

A final turn was made into the street and they watched the other van disappear. "Here goes nothing…" Mark said nervously and gripped the wheel, sweat pouring off his forehead.

He hit the pedal once the car reached the desired temperature and stars shone before their eyes.

But it wasn't over yet.

**Hehe evil cliffie! I shall try to get the last chapter up ASAP.**

**FYI I am also planning a sequel. Just need to wrap up a few lose ends. Thanks all for sticking with me and for all the support. Really, it means a lot.**

**Hyperpotterprincess you are THE BEST beta reader ever.**


	5. A New Problem

**I can tell you honestly that I thought this was going to be longer but am immensely proud of how it turned out. There will be a sequel and maybe a part three. If not only because it's been so much fun for me.**

**As always tell me if you liked it, constructive criticism and all that. I do not beg. :D**

**Thanks to HyperPotterPrincess and TapeMonkey for being awesomely supportive and for all the lovely reviews! Merci!**

**Disclaimer: Even though I always forget to do these, you guys all know that I own nothing.**

**Modesto, California: Saturday, June 12****th**** 2010 (present)**

The lights of time travel swirled around them in a light cocoon and they were entranced. Sarah looked down again slowly, as if afraid of what she was about to see. A delighted laugh left her lips as a white cloud seemed to patch her up from the inside. The holes closed and she wiggled her fingers again.

"It feels so good to be able to do that again," she let out a relieved sigh. Griffin, who was squatted down next to her smiled right at her and she grinned back with delight.

Griffin turned his neck around and went to stare at George, who was glowing a very light blue. He looked down at his own body in alarm. "But…?" He was quickly disappearing from the feet up. "What's happening?"

"It seems that once the past changed, your future disappeared!" Mark replied quickly.

"But doesn't that mean that I will…!" George's mouth went away with that last word and his whole body faded into the twinkling stars zooming by their heads. The group gulped in unison and glanced anxiously at Mark.

"Doesn't this mean we saved the future?" Griffin asked worriedly while climbing into what was once George's seat and buckling the seatbelt around his waist.

Mark looked around the van, not seeing any of the Star Wars pictures disappearing and took that as a good sign as he noticed they had begun to fade only hours earlier. "Maybe… or that the almost fatal accident became…" he trailed off and the worry line growing on Sarah's brow became more defined.

"Fatal?" Sarah finished for him. Mark nodded solemnly.

"I guess we'll know soon enough," Griffin said darkly.

They screeched to a halt in front of the church soon after. Doors were quickly opened and they raced outside.

"Our houses!" Sarah shouted delightedly. "They're all here!"

And so they were. The neighborhood was as full, and as perfect as they always remembered it to be.

"To the library!" Mark cried and got into the car again. The other two, now holding hands, joined him. The ride to the library was tense. Parking was a drag as the lot was filled. It was a hassle that they didn't complain about; finally glad for normality in comparison the relatively empty library they had left in the other possible future.

When a spot became vacant Mark immediately took advantage of it, sliding into the spot. The van was hastily locked while Griffin and Sarah ran in ahead of Mark. Sarah signed them into the computer usage paper and Griffin took the last available computer. The librarian arched a suspicious eyebrow but said nothing. Sarah and a panting Mark pulled up chairs next to Griffin who was searching through the international movie database for Star Wars.

They began to cry when the A New Hope theatrical poster lit up the screen. "Thank God," Sarah whispered. Griffin scrolled down with trembling fingers to see the list of actors. Sarah let out a whimper of joy and hugged Griffin's back.

Everyone was there. Harrison, and Carrie, and Mark. Peter and Kenny and Anthony. "They're all there!" Griffin exclaimed hoarsely. He checked out the Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, all the prequels, Indiana Jones' and all of the Pixar movies. He shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't believe that we did it!" Mark exclaimed.

"Well, I think we should get home before our parent's murder us," Sarah said finally after a few moments of silence. "To then we've been gone for a day with not even a text."

"We're screwed," Griffin remarked glumly.

They logged off the computer and returned to the van. The drive home had become almost as scary for Griffin and Sarah as only an hour ago while they feared for their lives. Now they had parents that just might kill them.

"Where have you been? No note, car gone! You could have died! What were you thinking?" Sarah's mom had been chewing her out for the past half hour while Sarah sat on her bed with her head in her hands.

"We were at Mark's!"

"You slept over at your cousin's 'house' with that Griffin boy?" Now her mom looked more furious than ever. "That has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard!"

"I'm not stupid," Sarah choked out. "I slept in a different room! I'm not like those other girls!"

"You didn't tell your father or me that you were sleeping over!"

"Mark needed immediate help on a project! And besides Dad probably didn't even miss me…" Sarah let out the last bit bitterly.

"Your father threatened to call the police! He thought you had been kidnapped!"

"I won't do it again!"

"I know you won't because you're being grounded for the next month!"

"What?" She had never been grounded before. It wouldn't have been as bad if she hadn't known that she just saved her own life.

"Do you want two months?" Sarah's mom had both of her hands on her hips and was glaring down at Sarah, tempting her to fight back.

"No ma'am."

"That's right." She turned on her heels and left. Sarah looked out the window to Griffin's house and it sounded like he was getting the same treatment from his father as a deep baritone voice bounced around the whole neighborhood in an angry pitch. Even the trees looked they were going to cry. Sarah was glad she was not griffin at that moment.

A letter had been forced through the slot on the bottom of the door when Sarah looked over. She went to pick it up and it had a sticky note on it from her brother. 'I stole this from the mail pile and it had your name on it. I figured you wouldn't get it for the next ten years so I smuggled it to you. You owe me, big time.' A faint smile danced upon her lips and she sunk into a beanbag chair to read it.

_Sarah Johnson,_

_It's been fifty years since my accident and I never forgot that day. I met the three most influential people in my life. I had no idea who they were or why they were there, but I knew they were there to help me. I'm not good with words but I just wanted to thank you and your friends for everything you've done to help me. Yesterday I woke up from a nightmare of a different future, a future without Star Wars. A future where movies were lame and people weren't happy._

_It reminded me of those three people. And somehow I knew that you saved me and many others from an awful fate. Not sure how… but I just knew._

_When you graduate collage and go out into the world, if you have any desire to be a part of our family, Lucasfilm has its arms wide open._

_Feel free to keep in contact,_

_George Lucas_

_Director of Star Wars._

Sarah let out a big smile. She got up from the beanbag chair and sunk into her bed, closing her eyes.

It had, after all, been a very exhausting day.

A tapping at her window woke her up later that night. The first thing she noticed was a plate of noodles at her bedside table with a note on it, once again from her brother. 'That's two you owe me junior.'

She picked up the noodles and peeked out the door. Griffin was throwing pebbles with an anxious look on his face. Sarah opened her window and stuck her head out. "What?" she whispered out, loud enough for him to hear.

"Mark's in some kind of trouble! Better get down here!"

Sarah chocked down the last of the noodles and carefully lowered herself to the ground by means of a convenient tree. She touched the ground and hugged Griffin. "How did he get you?"

"My parents forgot to take away my cell phone. I hid it under my pillow when I got home before all hell broke loose," he hesitated. "Did you get a letter?"

"From Mr. Lucas? Yeah."

"That's something, isn't it? We should take him up on it," he told her. He paused when he remembered what he came for. "Come quick! The time machine is acting all screwy!"

They ran hand in hand across the street into the old church where Mark was fiddling with the engine that was spilling oil and regurgitating sparks.

"What's wrong with it?" Sarah cried out to him while he battled with the sick vehicle.

"A piece got fractured. Hold on while I fix it. Can you two hold onto this?" he gave them two parts to hold, still attached to the car. Mark got into the driver's seat and didn't even notice when his elbow switched the setting to time travel. He thought he was hitting the radio to douse the noise coming from the car when really it was the time knob next to the radio, making it fifty years it into the future instead.

Mark hit the gas, causing Griffin and Sarah to be blasted away from the van as it disappeared into the future.

Quickly they jumped from the ground and brushed off grass. "What happened?" asked a panicking Sarah.

"He's time traveling again!"

It took another five minutes of barely disguised panic to figure out what to do before a light filled the night again, marking Mark's return.

The van looked newer and Mark slightly older.

"Quick get in! We're in trouble!"

"What is it?" Sarah asked, astonished at his arrival and departure.

"The future will be destroyed unless we can convince Harrison Ford!" Mark gestured for Sarah and Griffin to get in.

"To do what?" Griffin asked as he buckled his seat impatiently.

"You'll see," he muttered and gassed the pedal.

**To be continued…**

**Can the kids fix the future? Who knows!**

**See you guys soon…**


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